A crew of IU facilities workers took down the fence around Dunn Meadow on Monday after 136 days of closure, with four days left in the semester.
The workers began just before 11:30 a.m. as it rained, taking apart the fence and loading it into a Master Rental truck. The fence was fully taken down by 12:45 p.m.
The meadow was closed after damages sustained during the pro-Palestinian encampment in the spring and summer. A message sent to the IU community in August, from the Vice President of Capital Planning and Facilities, Thomas Morrison, said that heavy use of the space in April, and the placement of temporary structures necessitated the resurfacing of the meadow and repairs to the subsurface irrigation system.
According to a press release on IU Bloomington Today, the facilities team repaired the sub-surface irrigation system and installed new turf in the meadow. There are also new dual black bulbs on two lampposts around the meadow, which appear to be security cameras. In a December article from the Herald Times, IUPD refused to comment on the installation of new cameras.
Apparent cameras are seen attached to a lamppost in Dunn Meadow on Dec. 16, 2024, in Bloomington. In a December article from the Herald Times, IUPD refused to comment on the installation of new cameras.
The announcement also says that the meadow will be available for reservation next semester.
IU Executive Director for Media Relations Mark Bode said in a previous Indiana Daily Student article that initial estimates for the repairs were $100,000, with the possibility of increase throughout the project. The IDS filed a public records request in October and obtained contracts for the fence and turf. The contract for the turf, installation, delivery and other charges totaled $86,600.
A contract for a four-month rental of the fencing from Master Rental, surrounding the meadow and other costs was $20,040.38 and listed an approximate “ending” of Dec. 1.
There was no return or mention of contracts relating to the irrigation system in the records request.
Dunn Meadow had been IU’s designated free speech zone since 1969 after a negotiation between anti-Vietnam protesters and then-Dean of Students Robert Shaffer. Structures were prohibited in Dunn Meadow after an ad hoc committee changed the policy the night before April’s encampment, on April 24. Camping and non-approved structures are now prohibited after the IU Board of Trustees passed a new Expressive Activity Policy, which went into effect Aug. 1.
